Reinhart extends point streak to 11, Panthers cruise past Coyotes

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Sam Reinhart had a goal and an assist to extend his point streak to 11 games, and the Florida Panthers defeated the Arizona Coyotes 6-2 at Amerant Bank Arena on Wednesday.

Reinhart has 16 points (12 goals, four assists) during the streak, and 17 goals in his past 15 games.

Matthew Tkachuk had two goals and an assist, Anton Lundell had a goal and an assist, and Carter Verhaeghe had three assists for the Panthers (29-14-4), who ended a four-game home losing streak. Sergei Bobrovsky made 31 saves.

“There has been a lot of offense and a lot of guys pitching in,” Tkachuk said. “We have a very deep team, and our team relies on that depth. I am proud of everyone’s effort. We had a lot from a lot of lines. Hopefully we can keep this rolling.”

Paul Maurice coached his 1,813th game, passing Barry Trotz for second in NHL history. Scotty Bowman is first with 2,141.

“When you get to that number, it means you had a lot of other numbers. Those ones did not really resonate a whole lot,” Maurice said. “For whatever reason, today’s did. I worked with a lot of great people, and that’s a lot of games my family has had to grind through as much as me and everyone else. Pro sports is a wonderful place to work, but not a very forgiving place. To get to that number, I would say it’s special to me. I felt it this morning for the first time.”

Dylan Guenther had a goal and an assist for the Coyotes (23-20-3), who had won two in a row. Karel Vejmelka made 37 saves.

“I don’t know what to say, really,” Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said. “There is no real right side to our performance. We were not connected, not urgent enough, our execution was not there, our passing and our shooting was not there. It’s an off night. One of those nights.”

Tkachuk gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 1:53 of the first period. He won a puck battle along the right boards with J.J. Moser, turned and scored over the left shoulder of Vejmelka.

Reinhart made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 8:44, scoring on a one-timer from the low slot off a tic-tac-toe passing play with Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov.

Sam Bennett scored 17 seconds later at 9:01 to extend the lead to 3-0, beating Vejmelka glove side off a pass from Verhaeghe on a 2-on-1.

Tkachuk scored his second of the game through a screen from the right circle to make it 4-0 at 4:14 of the second period.

Lundell pushed it to 5-0 at 18:17. He scored with a one-timer off a pass from Reinhart past a sliding Travis Dermott on a 2-on-1.

“A lot happened. There was some action at the start, and everyone was fired up,” Lundell said. “We brought the right attitude to the game and got off to the right start."

Jonah Gadjovich made it 6-0 at 2:27 of the third period, scoring with a backhand in front after Kevin Stenlund gloved down Nick Bjugstad's clearing attempt at the right point.

Guenther scored a power-play goal to make it 6-1 at 3:25, and Logan Cooley tapped in a backdoor pass from Guenther at 16:58 for the 6-2 final.

“It is tough. You cannot start a game like that, especially against a team like that and expect to win,” Guenther said. “Quick turnaround (Arizona plays at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday). Get ready for the next one.”

NOTES: Barkov had an assist in 14:24 of ice time after missing the previous three games with a lower-body injury. ... Panthers defenseman Gustav Forsling had two assists in 18:36; he missed one game for the birth of his son, Bo. ... Verhaeghe has eight points (two goals, six assists) in his past five games. ... Coyotes center Nick Bjugstad was minus-4 in 17:59.